Site Name

What's in a name? Why on earth is this site called Sensei's Library?

The idea is that eventually (in many years from now) SL will contain all Go wisdom available. (food for thought: think of the treasured archives of go houses, think of old wise man, think of "best of rgg" <- actually this is how it all started)

So, just like in a library you will find a vast collection of information. (By the way, I don't find libraries dull.) And Sensei, well what's bad about a teacher ?-)

Morten Pahle: Actually, (the Japanese-literate may correct me here), I was under the impression that sensei has more of a meaning as "the first of pupils" or "he who leads" - I suppose it's the oriental way of making a title humble-sounding?

Hopefully, SL will become the font of much (all ?-) Go knowledge on the web.

Bob McGuigan: The Japanese kanji for sensei 先生 mean, literally, 先 "before", "earlier" and 生 "born", "life". Probably from the traditional Asian respect for elders, it is assumed that elders' greater experience makes them valuable sources of learning. That's my guess at the etymology. The usual meaning of sensei is "teacher, master, or doctor", again a connotation of superior knowledge, skill, or experience.

By the way, I like the title. A lot of teaching and learning seems to go on here.

JanDeWit: I was under the impression that issei meant "first generation" or something like that. But you probably can't trust science fiction books! Any students of Japanese around?

Gareth: That sounds like issei 一世 "lifetime", "generation", "foreign immigrant". Different kanji for sei but with the same root meaning "life".